A Vocation Story: Deacon Patrick Tifu

Saturday 12th July 2025

“Love is about making the life of somebody else better, and if it doesn’t make the life of somebody else better, then it’s not love. The permanent diaconate is a great opportunity to show love, to be charitable, and to offer oneself to your brothers and sisters.”

Last week, we welcomed a new permanent deacon to our growing group of deacons with the ordination of Patrick Tifu. As Patrick begins active ministry in our diocese, we catch up with him to find out a little more about his unique road to ordained life. 

“My journey has been a little unusual in the sense that I was in a seminary many years ago, 20 years ago. I felt a call to the priesthood as a missionary just after finishing my A levels in 1998 and I joined the Mill Hill Missionaries when I was 18.”

For six years, Patrick undertook training and formation to become a missionary priest, studying philosophy and theology here in the UK, his home country of Cameroon, and also Uganda.

However, during his sixth year of training, the Holy Spirit revealed a surprising turn of events to Patrick.

He said: “I went for mission experience back in Uganda and whilst I was there, I felt that that wasn’t for me and so I left the programme at the start of my seventh year.

“It was difficult to make that decision because I knew nothing more than wanting to be a missionary, to travel the world, and spread the Gospel. So when I left, it was very difficult.

“I felt my faith took a hit a little bit. So I wanted to take a break – not from the Church – but just to be very ordinary. Just go for Mass and try to get back to normal life again.”

A New Path

For 20 years, Patrick’s faith took a gentler path, quietly attending Mass and serving God in the privacy of his own heart. It was during this time that Patrick met his wife and started a family, following life’s journey and moving from parish to parish across Greater London and eventually settling in Macclesfield.

“And everywhere we went,” he said, “people would suggest, ‘have you thought of becoming a permanent deacon?’, and I said ‘no, no, no. I’ve done that before. I never want to do it again’. And so for 20 years, I kept saying no.”

Eventually, the family moved to the cathedral parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Joseph in Salford, quietly serving as readers, welcomers, eucharistic ministers, altar servers, choir members, and catechists. But despite their dedication as lay members of the Church, the question of ministry was relentless as Canon Michael Jones once again put the question of the permanent diaconate to Patrick.

He said: “And so I prayed about it for a couple of years after he suggested it. I would say, ‘Lord, this can’t be a coincidence that so many people are asking me the question, but why are you going through all these people? Why don’t you just tell me what you want me to do if that’s what you want me to do?'”

Accompanying continuous prayer and discernment was the faithful support of Patrick’s wife, who harbours the same tireless call to mission that first spoke to Patrick decades before.

He said: “She’s the faithful one in the family and her faith has really been a rock for me, especially while I was doing the programme. As Christians, we’re quite clear that we have a mission, we have a purpose while we’re here and God has assigned something to us, and my wife is very big on the need to find out. You need to find your own vocation.

“She would say that although I’ve left the seminary, there’s still a lot more I could do and I needed to pray about it and let the Lord show me what that is because there is still more I could do.

“And that’s one of the reasons why I listened to the other people who were constantly asking if I had thought about the permanent diaconate. This could be the little bit more that she always felt I could do.”

The Formation Journey

After years of prayer and discernment and a thorough interview and assessment process, Patrick began the four-year training to become a permanent deacon.

He said: “I really enjoyed formation. I think I was too young when I decided to join the Mill Hill Missionaries. It was something that I had to do but I think this time I chose it, after lots of discernment, praying and asking the Lord if that was what he really wanted of me. And I think it was different this time because I felt that I’d chosen to do it and I enjoyed every minute of it.”

Whilst relishing the opportunity to revisit his studies by exploring the sacraments, Church teaching, Catholic Social Teaching, scripture, and more, the reality of juggling family, work, and formation was a real test for the demands of the ministry.

He said: “I spent the last 12 months on the move, really. When I wasn’t away with work, I was away at Hinsley or Liverpool, and my son plays football as well, so I’m taking him to Blackburn, or to Leicester or to Birmingham for that.

“But my wife and family have been really supportive because they understood that I had to travel for work and travel for formation, and for football, and I became very good at managing all of that.”

The Road Ahead

Having taken his vows on Saturday 5 July, Deacon Patrick is now preparing to begin a new life serving the people of our diocese in his new role as permanent deacon.

Reflecting on his upcoming ministry, Deacon Patrick said: “I think, for me, it’s about serving the people in whatever capacity. I think by going through this programme and getting ordained, I’m saying to the Lord – but also to my brothers and sisters – ‘here am I, ready to serve you’.

“And whatever shape or form that takes, I’m happy to do. I enjoy bringing the word of God to people and I like going out and meeting people.”

“There’s always this tendency to think that if I go for Mass and shake somebody’s hand, do the Sign of Peace, and go home, then I’ve done my duty, but I think that one thing I would love to do is to remind people how fantastic the early Christian community was: very simple, very supportive, just breaking bread and being together.

“And Christ said, ‘whenever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am,’ so whatever we do, it’ll be nice to do it together.”

A Growing Ministry

As the permanent diaconate continues to grow in our diocese, Deacon Patrick is eager to inspire others to have the courage to discern, listen to, and answer God’s call to their own individual mission.

He said: “Don’t be like me – don’t put it off. Don’t be like Jonah.

“What is our faith for if we don’t want to serve our brothers and sisters? If you truly believe in Jesus, he was the most practical man there was. He became one of us and lived a normal life. He was a carpenter, he went to weddings.

“What he did was really practical to make life better for everybody; to proclaim good news to the poor, to set free the captives, to give sight to the blind. And if we believed in him, we would want to be like him by making life better for the people around us.”

To find out more about the work of our permanent deacons, please stayed tuned on the News section of our website or follow us on Facebook or Instagram.

Tagged | Permanent Diaconate | Vocations